29 weeks

I will not be taking any belly pictures until Jareth gets back in two weeks.  Until then, I will update you on all the action going on with our baby girl!

• Your baby's head is in proportion with body now. He appears more like a newborn each and every day!
• Fat continues to accumulate under the skin -- only now preparing for entering the *real world*.
• Your baby's brain can control primitive breathing and body temperatures.
• His eyes can move in their sockets. Soon he will be able to follow a blinking light.
• Your baby is increasingly sensitive to changes in light, sound, taste, and smell! Various studies show that your baby may indicate preferences (or disdain) for particular tastes or odors at this stage
• He is also moving from side to side, but probably still is head up. In the next few weeks, he will move to the head down birthing position. At times you may feel as if he is performing somersaults for a circus act!
• Her length is now approximately 15.2 inches (38.6cm) and weight is 2.54 pounds (1153gm) 

Source: www.pregnancy.org

365 Days Of Being A Martinez

This past year has been very eventful for Jareth and I.  It started off with a super fun party at our wedding and the party hasnt stopped since then.  Just 13 days after our wedding Jareth was commissioned into the US Arny Reserves.  Shortly after that he found a job with Lifetouch putting to use his Bachelors in Art degree.  I had the opportunity to work with him at Lifetouch when my hours were cut back at Cargill.  I also got to work with my sister putting together necklaces and participating in a couple craft shows.  We learned we were expecting our first child in December and enjoyed giving that present to our families during Christmas.  Over January and February we planned our move to Alabama and said our goodbyes to friends, family and Fargo.  Since we have been here we have found a few good friends, visited Destin, FL a couple times (it seems so weird to be 90 minutes away from paradise), ate some great seafood, started making this beat up house into a home, found out our baby will be a girl, Jareth has been very busy working on base and doing assorted trainings and we have both had a blast through it all!  I would have to say our first year of marriage has made us strong when we ran into struggles, taught us both about life together, and been a whirlwind of fun and laughter.  To many more adventurous years!!

Happy Birthday!!

Just wanted to wish my little brother a very Happy 21st Birthday!!

Singing In The Car

As you are reading this, I am most likely blaring my radio and singing at the top of my lungs driving to Kentucky.  I am going to visit my sister and my mom is flying in tomorrow to spend the weekend with her girls.  We have a bunch of baby projects and shopping to do!  I plan on having a fun girls weekend and playing with my nephew Darius as much as possible!  I will be back next week to post more!

Happy Anniversary!

Since Jareth will be unreachable for awhile we decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary a little early.  On Saturday we started the day by sleeping in and making pancakes, bacon and french toast for breakfast.  We were able to enjoy our pool for most of the day and relax in the sun.  For dinner we grilled steaks and had some delicious pico de gallo. We topped off dinner with some cake from our wedding.  Surprisingly, it was very delicious and moist!  (Good thing there are left overs so I can gobble the rest of it up!) After dinner we went out to a drive in movie.  We both had never done that before and it was a great experience!  They had four screens and two movies played on each.  We decided to watch Iron Man 2 and The Bounty Hunter.  It was only 5 dollars for both movies and their concessions were much cheaper than a regular theater!  The whole day was very fun and a great way to spend some time with my hubby!

Ready for the movie!

It tasted much better than it looks!

Out in the Boonies

Well Jareth left this morning.  I dropped him off on post at 4:45 AM and neither of us were too excited to say goodbye (who ever is?).  He will be bussed out to an undisclosed site somewhere to complete his SERE training.  Good Luck!

SERE school

Jareth has had numerous tasks and tests up to this point but nothing has been anything like what he will be doing from May 24th to June 14th. He will be attending SERE school (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape). Most of what is taught to these soldiers is confidential. To explain what he will be enduring for the next three weeks- I have taken the information from wikipedia and http://www.training.sfahq.com/survival_training.htm. Contrary to what wikipedia explains, a SERE school has recently been added to Fort Rucker for all aviators. Some Rangers also attend the Fort Rucker school, other Rangers go to Fort Bragg to join all the Special Forces Soldiers. Between Bragg and Rucker, all soldiers going to SERE -C school go through these military bases.


SERE is a United States military acronym for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, a program that provides military personnel, Department of Defense civilians and private military contractors with training in evading capture, survival skills and the military code of conduct. Established by the United States Air Force at the end of the Korean War (1950–53), it was extended during the Vietnam War (1959–75) to the Army, Navy and United States Marine Corps. Most higher level SERE students are all military aircrew and special operations personnel considered to be at high risk of capture.

Survival and evasion
Most of SERE training focuses on survival and evasion. Skills taught include woodcraft, and wilderness survival in all types of climate. This includes what is known as emergency first aid, a variant of the battlefield variety, land navigation, camouflage techniques, methods of evasion, communication protocols and how to make improvised tools. This list is by no means comprehensive, and some of what is taught is classified secret.
Resistance and escape
Training on how to survive and resist the enemy in the event of capture is largely based on the experiences of past US and allied prisoners of war. Most of this aspect of the course is secret. Several official websites, however, give a general overview. Official sources insist that SERE students are not themselves taught how to apply coercive techniques, but are taught how to resist them if captured.

Code of conduct
SERE training is intended, above all, to provide students with the skills needed to live up to the US military code of conduct when in uncertain or hostile environments. It is recited as follows:
1. I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
2. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender those under my command while they still have the means to resist.
3. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
4. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.
5. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
6. I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

SERE training takes place at three levels:
• Level A: Entry level training. These are the Code of Conduct mandatory classes taken by all at induction (recruit training and OCS). All service personnel get this basic training annually.
• Level B: For those operating or expected to operate forward of the division rear boundary and up to the forward line of own troops (FLOT). Normally limited to aircrew of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Level B focuses on survival and evasion, with resistance in terms of initial capture.
• Level C: For troops at a high risk of capture and whose position, rank or seniority make them vulnerable to greater than average exploitation efforts by any captor. Level C focuses on resistance in terms of prison camps and serious military interrogation.

Jareth will be attending the Level C school. For 3 weeks, a CNN camera crew was allowed to view the school at Fort Bragg, NC. Their findings and pictures can be found on this site. I encourage you to read this story (unless you are Lisa) as most of the information about SERE school is confidential and this may be one of the few places you will be able to see and hear what happens during these three weeks.

Bodacious Hunting Frogs

Since our pool better resemebles a marsh, we now have frogs and turtles making our "pool" their home.  Bodacious has found the family of frogs and loves sneaking up on them to attempt catching them.  He tries to paddle the water toward him and walks in as far as he can without the water getting too high.  One day we witnessed him actually capturing them.  He will walk into the pool and find one, he will grab it with his mouth and bring it back to his safe stair, he then puts the frog down just to watch it quickly swim away.

 Wisely scoping out his prey

Success!  He got his leg- now back to the stair.

Showing Ludo frogs are easier to catch than birds.

Dunker

Jareth has been busy everyday taking a multitude of Army classes, getting familiar with post, getting introduced to helicopters and what is to come over the course of flight school and being tested mentally and physically.  This week is the Dunker or Helicopter Overwater Survival Training (HOST). 

What is Dunker training?

Army dunker survival training consists of a series of underwater exercises to familiarize or refresh crew with the steps necessary to extricate themselves from a submerged helicopter (also known as "ditching"). Training takes place at several locations within the United States, including military bases and commercial sites.

Why Water Training?


Since most Army aviation assets are rotary wing--and helicopters are notoriously top-heavy due to the operating gear positioned above the fuselage--they roll over almost immediately when submerged.
 
Gear
 
Trainees are required to wear flight duty gear, including flight suits, boots and helmets. Training centers provide clothing
 
Screening
 
Those who are training need to suit up and tread water for five minutes, swim the length of an Olympic-size pool and swim under water across the dunker pool

Exercises

If one passes the screening, he then prepares for a free fall drop and roll-over in the dunker. He grabs a reference point for orientation. He stays in position until the dunker completely rolls, releases himself and exits.

Discomfort and Hazards


Dunker training isn't without discomfort. A trainee must hold his breath as water floods his nasal cavities. Chaos on exiting means enduring kicks and flailing limbs from seven or eight others as he quickly runs out of air. Straps and seatbelts can prohibit exiting; if this occurs, he is to fold his arms across his chest and wait for help. Black goggles increase disorientation; he should relax and float to the top of the pool.

source: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6062614_army-dunker-training.html

27 weeks

We are now 27 weeks along- the last week of the second trimester.  Soon we will be in the final trimester and preparing to bring home baby!  When I think about her growth and development a lot has happened in these short 6 months! When I think about how long it has been since I ran at the gym, had enough energy to be busy from 6 am to 12am, the last time I ate a tuna sandwich...6 months has lasted forever!  Here is the latest baby bump pic!

Repairs in Progress

Over the last few weeks we have had many visitors.  The owner of our house is required to have a part of our livingroom ceiling and a part of the roof fixed as well as have two trees removed from our backyard per our lease agreement.  It was agreed upon to have all of this work completed within 60 days- on day 59 we finally saw something get done.  Last Friday we had the two trees cut down, chopped up and the stumps grinded down.  At the end of the day, this is what they left for us :)

The entire backyard is ripped up from their bobcat and the front yard is ripped up from their trucks (who could not use the driveway or streets).  I guess I will have to call the leasing company to find out who is removing the mulch, sand and cement blocks since this pregnant lady is planning on playing the pregnant card as much as possible!

The roofing company got interrupted due to rain on Friday so we will see them again soon to complete the roof and finish the ceiling.

Now all we need is our pool summerized so we can actually use it!!

As I have begun to get bigger I have started to feel more aches and pains that everyone hears about during pregnancy.  At 20 weeks I was advised to avoid sleeping on my back.  Sleeping on your back after 20 weeks can cause restricted blood flow to the baby, increase dizziness, increase my chance of hemorrhoids, and add pressure on veins and the spine.  I was quite paranoid about this as I would fall asleep on my side then wake up on my back.  I decided to put my worries to rest; I created a 'ramp' on the bed.  This way I don't have to wake up more than necessary just to see if I had rolled over.  After a few blankets and pillows I have successfully eased my mind and my body.  I have a pillow for my knees, a blanket for lumbar support and the rest to prop up my back and head. 

Even though this may seem like a simple feat, I am very excited to crawl into bed each night knowing I will be nice and comfy!

Baby Bump -25 weeks

We are now 25 weeks along and Minka is doing very well.  At every appointment we are fortunate enough to get an ultrasound done on a handheld machine.  Our baby girl is moving and growing well.  Her heartbeat is also great at a strong 146 bpm.

Baby Registry

We have completed a baby registry at Target!  Most of the items are just guidelines on what types of things we are looking for.  Target.com will also ship the items directly to us!

If you'd like to check it out, click here.